Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) became the third Senate Democrat to publicly support advancing the House-passed stopgap funding bill, as a potential government shutdown looms. The Senate will vote on cloture Friday for the spending bill that would keep the government funded at current levels through the end of September,

An afternoon vote was expected to clear the way for a Republican-written bill to keep government funding flowing past midnight after the top Senate Democrat said he would not block it.